Opinion
SC: 154577 COA: 327634
07-24-2017
PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. Todd Allen WHEELER, Defendant–Appellant.
Order
On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal the September 20, 2016 judgment of the Court of Appeals is considered. Pursuant to MCR 7.305(H)(1), in lieu of granting leave to appeal, we REMAND this case to the Court of Appeals to address the defendant's claim, raised for the first time in this Court, that his appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to challenge on appeal: (1) the joinder of his and Hooper Jackson Parsley's trials; and (2) his trial counsel's ineffectiveness for failing to oppose that joinder. On remand, while retaining jurisdiction, the Court of Appeals shall remand this case to the Kent Circuit Court to conduct an evidentiary hearing pursuant to People v. Ginther , 390 Mich. 436 (1973), to determine whether the defendant was deprived of his right to the effective assistance of trial and appellate counsel. At the conclusion of the hearing, the circuit court shall forward the record and its findings to the Court of Appeals, which shall then address these issues. In all other respects, the application for leave to appeal is DENIED, because we are not persuaded that the remaining questions presented should be reviewed by this Court.
We note that by order dated July 24, 2017, we remanded People v. Parsley (Docket No. 154734) to the Court of Appeals for consideration of whether the error in joining Parsley's case with the defendant's was harmless.
We do not retain jurisdiction.